Bold Face: Canawler’s Rest Stop near Zoar to be re-opened

Diana Rossetti

Saturday

Jan 28, 2012 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2012 at 8:09 PM

Zoar’s Inn on the River is revisited and revived by a retired Timken Co. executive.

By Diana Rossetti

diana.rossetti@cantonrep.com

The former Inn on the River in Lawrence Township outside Zoar is going to get a new name and a new life thanks to Jon T. Elsasser, retired Timken Co. senior vice president and chief information officer.

“My plan to reopen it is going to be different than it has been recently. Today, the canal with the towpath is in front of me. The trail is here. The bridge across the street is restored.

“It was built in 1829 as an inn for canawlers. The new name will be Canal Tavern of Zoar,” said Elsasser, 59, who retired from his Timken post in 2009 after a career that relocated him to France and Brazil.

The ceiling was removed this week to allow electrical renovation. The downstairs area that had been transformed into a bar will be reclaimed as part of the main dining room.

The charming patio, a later addition that previously drew a raucous crowd that disturbed neighbors, once again will be a gathering place during warm weather. But, Elsasser stressed, the entertainment will be “softer” and the ambiance relaxed.

Elsasser, president of the Zoar Community Association, took on the project when the inn’s out-of-state owners decided to sell.

“Everybody thinks it would be fun to own a restaurant, but I know enough about restaurants to know a lot of times, they’re not much fun. But I wanted to preserve the building. And I wanted to make a place here in Zoar a destination restaurant.

“My goal is to find a chef manager who shares my vision to stay sort of like the old Zoar Tavern food. Good food, not necessarily white table cloth. Good steaks are pretty important in this area, I think.

“I’d like to go back to the history of Zoar, and my goal would be to have a few German dishes on the menu,” said Elsasser, who lives with his wife, Cindy, in the home they built in the Zoar area after their return from Brazil in 1990.

May is the month set tentatively for opening.

START LOW, WORK HARD

And, speaking of Timken, Tim Timken is the fifth generation of his family to serve as company chairman. He has been chosen by Inside Business magazine for its annual Power 100 listing of northeast Ohio’s most influential leaders. He was ranked 18th on the list, which includes government and corporate leaders.

Following in his family’s leadership footsteps was not a given, Timken said.

"You knew there was an application process," he told the magazine’s writer. "You were expected to start low and work hard."

BAGS ARE HER THING

Dawn Carrington’s Glamorous Boutique at the Hartville MarketPlace evolved out of her fondness for pricey designer and name-brand handbags.

“I can’t necessarily afford them. So I would get one and carry it a couple months and then fall in love with another bag I’d seen somewhere else,” said Carrington, who lives in the Portage Lakes area. “So I would sell my old bag to my friends or family. After they were sick of buying my bags, I started doing Craigslist and eBay and found there’s lot of women who do that. They want that special bag, but they want to get it cheap so that they don’t have to carry it the rest of their lives.”

Thirteen months ago, she took the leap and opened her store, accepting consignments of gently used bags. The response, she said, has been gratifying.

“I have a lot of repeat customers. And at Christmas time, I had a lot of husbands coming in and saying they wanted to buy their wives something nice they’d seen on my Web page,” she said.

Carrington’s website is www.myglamorousboutique.com.

OMNIUM-GATHERUMS

The Abercrombie Kids store at Westfield Belden Village has closed. ... So has Hot Pots, the pottery painting shop at 708 S. Main St. in North Canton. However, Hot Pots Pottery’s Alliance store will continue its operation. Troy Meyers is the owner. ... Interior remodeling is under way at the former Phil’s Grill at 1212 30th St. NW. ... The phone has been disconnected at Moda Hair Design & Day Spa at 4503 Fulton Drive NW in Jackson Township. At manta.com, owners are listed as Randy and Joyce Ingold but no working phone number was found for them. ... And, finally, Cathy Hughes, owner of the now-closed Chenny’s Antiques, expects to have returned all consignors’ merchandise by the weekend. Consignors complained the shop at 5537 Whipple Ave. NW had closed and that Hughes told them she was putting their items in storage units until she found a new location. They became restive when they heard nothing further and could find no information on the website. Hughes’s e-mail address is chennysantiques@gmail.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.